A system controls multiple digital printers, each printer including a processor, which processes incoming image data to be printed, and an engine, which places marks on a print sheet. A system-wide database includes a software portion, which contains data relating to the processors in the various printers, and a hardware portion, which contains data relating to the various engines. A central control system can recognize, for each printer, whether a condition within the printer is primarily hardware- or software-related, and influence the printer accordingly.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A method of controlling a first printer and a second printer, the first printer having a first engine, the first engine being describable by a first hardware response, and a first processor, the first processor being describable by a first software response, and the second printer having a second engine, the second engine being describable by a second hardware response, and a second processor, the second processor being describable by a second software response, comprising: providing a software database containing data relating to the first software response and first hardware response, and a hardware database containing data relating to the second software response and second hardware response; scanning an image from the first printer, yielding first print appearance data; scanning an image from the second printer, yielding second print appearance data; and influencing at least one of the first processor and the first engine based on the first appearance data and the second appearance data to cause the first printer to output a print appearance approaching the second print appearance data.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising influencing only one of the first processor and the first engine based on data from the software database and the hardware database.
3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising influencing at least one of the first processor and the first engine and at least one of the second processor and the second engine based on data from the software database and the hardware database.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising populating the hardware database with data relating to the first engine.
5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising populating the hardware database with predetermined data relating to a model of the first printer.
6. The method of claim 4 , further comprising populating the hardware database with data derived from operation of the first printer.
7. The method of claim 1 , the influencing including constraining a color selection sent from the first processor to the first engine, based on a hardware response of the second engine.
8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising scanning an image output from the first printer; determining that the image output from the first printer is outside a predetermined image quality range; and influencing the first engine in response to the determining.
9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising not influencing the first processor in response to the determining.
10. The method of claim 8 , further comprising informing a user in response to the determining.
11. The method of claim 8 , further comprising directing a portion of a print job to the second printer in response to the determining.
12. The method of claim 1 , the hardware response including data relating to at least one of a measured color output; line width; density of a test patch; separation colorimetric response, and dot gain.
13. The method of claim 1 , the hardware response including data relating to at least one of an age of marking material, identity of marking material, ambient temperature, ambient humidity, and information about a substrate on which images are printed.
14. The method of claim 1 , the software response including data relating to at least one of a device-dependent color output versus a device-independent color input; colorant selection; font selection; font substitution; color profiles for models of printers; color profiles for individual printers; color separation compression; and angular orientations.
15. A method of controlling a first printer and a second printer, the first printer having a first engine, the first engine being describable by a first hardware response, the first printer having a first engine a first processor, the first processor being describable by a first software response, and the second printer having a second engine, the second engine being describable by a second hardware response, the second printer having a second processor, the second processor being describable by a second software response, the method comprising: providing a software database in a central control system separate from the first printer and the second printer, the software database containing data relating to the first software response and first hardware response, and a hardware database containing data relating to the second software response and second hardware response; receiving, over a network at a central control system, first print appearance data from a first scanned image of an image printed from the first printer; receiving, over a network at a central control system, second print appearance data from a second scanned image of an image printed from the second printer; and influencing, by the central control system, at least one of the first processor and the first engine based on data from the software database, the hardware database, and both the first appearance data and the second appearance data to cause the first printer to output a first print appearance approaching a second print appearance of the second printer.
16. The method according to claim 15 , wherein providing comprises providing a software database in a central control system at a location remote from the first printer and the second printer, the software database containing data relating to the first software response and first hardware response, and a hardware database containing data relating to the second software response and second hardware response.
17. The method according to claim 15 , wherein influencing comprises influencing, by the central control system, at least one of the first processor and the first engine based on data from the software database, the hardware database, the first appearance data, and the second appearance data to cause the first printer to output a print appearance color approaching a second print appearance color of the second printer.
18. The method according to claim 15 , wherein influencing comprises influencing, by the central control system, at least one of the first processor and the first engine based on data from the software database, the hardware database, the first appearance data, and the second appearance data to cause the first printer to output color selections that are within a gamut of the second printer.
Cooperative Patent Classification codes for this invention. Click any code to explore related patents in that topic.
December 9, 2004
February 22, 2011
Browse 5M+ US patents with plain-English claim translations and AI-generated analysis.